PHASE 55 - I DON’T GET THIS TIME LOOP THING EVEN IF I DID MILLIONS OF IT

I can now remember clearly what happened on the past timeline. I can remember the failing. I can remember Hades and Esperia attacking us. I remember Helena, Kristoff, Naomi, Francois, and even Rikkun dying. I remember a gigantic planet falling upon us that removed our universe from existence.

I remember all of it.

<>

“RIKUUUUUUUUUN!!!”

I can’t stress my lungs any longer. My sorrowful shout upon having the sight of my love dying once again could no longer be contained.

It all happened so fast. Rikkun managed to protect me from Necross Hades’ attack, but for the cost of transferring his armor to me. However, that brought Rikkun to his demise as he is no longer protected by the armor anymore.

I saw right in front of my eyes how my love died. The Heavenly Blade was shoved to his heart, and Necross Hades commanded to destroy him atom by atom. Now that he is killed and banished from existence at the same time with the power of the Heavenly Blade, Rikkun can no longer bring his own self to life.

I wept softly. I don’t know the exact figures on how many times I’ve seen Rikkun dead. All I know is that it’s more than seven million timelines. I should have gotten used to it, but I can’t. Seeing my lover die once again destroys my heart. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that even fate still decides what happens to our love story.

“Alaric Eisenhower is a fool.” Necross Hades laughed. The hollow eyes of his dragon skull mask glowed with crimson light. “Aeternos could have defeated me if he kept his armor for eternity. But here he is, sacrificing his trump card just to save his loved one.”

“Aren’t you going to do the same thing for me, my love?” Esperia walked towards the god of the underworld and then hung her elbow on Necross Hades’ shoulder.

“Of course I will. But that will go to waste as you are immortal.” Necross Hades said.

I started to ignore the voices in front of me. I know that they are celebrating, shoving the sign of defeat right on my face just to mock me. I just bowed and prayed.

I can see the flames burning the surroundings. One hundred percent of the skies had been covered by the Underworld, and it is bound to collapse on this very planet. The air is burning, the ground is burning, everything is burning. I’m not good at math, but the approximate distance of the world from that corrupted dark planet is about a kilometer already.

I looked at my hand, which has been coated with cybernetic knight-like equipment. is an armor that freezes the soul of the owner from inside, and also protects from any threats outside. This just means that I have infinite life and prana as long as I have this armor equipped. This also makes the from the Corrupted God Cores useless.

“Once the Necross Planet collides on earth, everything will cease to exist.” Necross Hades said as he swiped his fingers and opened a Gate.

“You will be the only one left here, in this infinite void of nothingness. That will be the same fate as being alone as the Frozen Soul. I hope you’ve gotten used to being alone in the end, hahaha!” Esperia mocked me once again.

I ignored them.

Consciousness has left my body as despair has consumed my mind. There is only one thing I always do whenever I receive a bad end. There is always one thing I always sing whenever I see Rikkun die in front of my eyes.

Silver dust started to surround my body. The Corrupted God Cores started to disperse away from me as if they are scared of my very existence. The god of the underworld and the white flower witch momentarily halted escaping this world as they grew confused about what I was doing.

“Are you going to sing the ?” Esperia is awed. “You know you can’t sing it without a God Core.”

“No… This is different.” Necross Hades gritted. “These vibrations that affect timelines… it can’t be!!!”

Panicking, Necross Hades drew out his obsidian blade and slashed it over and over to me. Metallic clanks echoed as my Aether Armor rendered the attacks of his Heavenly Blade useless.

“No way! You’re going to sing the !?”

If it wasn’t for the Aether Armor covering my face, I should be drenched with my own tears by now. I kept on crying and singing, but I ignored all the outside influences. There are about ten meters in length between Necross Underworld and earth. Even if the planets collided, I will not be affected because Rikkun is protecting me. His Aether Armor still activated is the proof of that willpower and love!

“With determination, I will never give up!”

“DAMN YOU, TIARA HIKARI!!!” Necross Hades and Esperia unleashed all their powerful attacks at me, but it might as well be considered nothing.

The underworld collided with our planet, and I heard a powerful explosion that could deafen everything.

I closed my eyes and focused on the lyrics of my song.

I tried to reminisce about all the things Rikkun and I have done together. I remember his warm hugs, his tender and gentle kiss, his manner of petting my head, and his lovely smiles. We’ve never gotten that far before, compared to the past seven million timelines. All those things that happened in this timeline may lay waste.

But at least I’ll get to meet him once again.

<>

“Are you okay now?” The witch Z asked me as she held out a cup of cereal hot chocolate to my hand. Since my stomach is doing acapella for the past hour, I accepted it without any second thoughts. I have to quench my hunger since I missed so many snacks and dinner.

I took a sip on my chocolate and then nodded to the ash-grey haired witch. “Y-Yeah, I’m okay now.”

We’re currently sitting on one of the pews of the church. When they noticed that I’m in good mental condition, Guinevere and Jeannette approached me.

“So according to your story, you used the to alter the timeline and even reality,” Guinevere said as she held her chin in deep thought.

“That’s a Brightmore Witch for you,” Jeannette muttered with a smile.

I looked like a curious puppy when I stared at Jeannette. Somehow, I find it weird that Jeannette seems to be aware of the changes in timelines. The fact that she brought me here with some girls with peculiar existence makes her sound like she knows more than me.

“Oh!” Jeannette seemed to remember something when she noticed me staring at her. “I’m sorry if I forgot to explain things to you. But now that you have recovered your memories, I think this is time for my revelation.”

Jeannette stood up in front of me and held her hips. “My name is Jeannette Amiella Fontaine von Noctis. Not from this world, but from another world. I’m the one Alaric saved in the Underworld. I’m not your Necchan, but your Jecchan. You may have noticed that your eyes are still sky-blue instead of golden-brown, which means that you still have the Fragment of the Frozen Soul in you. You're still Amy, or whatever you call my counterpart.”

I nodded like an obedient pup. At least with my prior timeline memories, I can catch up to her discussion. Normally, my brain would be like Bang!

“Since I’m from another universe, the did not fully affect me. That’s the reason why my memories on the previous timeline are still intact.” Jeannette raised her arms as if she was presenting the inside of the church.

“You lost me,” I muttered.

“Let’s move on~,” Jeannette said with a forced smile. She is silently saying that she’s not going to explain a second time because it’s a hassle. “You must be wondering why I delivered you to this place.”

“Uh… for hot chocolate cereals?” I tilted my head.

“No, you idiot.” Jeannette groaned. “I brought you here in this church because this is a special sanctuary that gathers extraordinary people that specializes in repelling Necross and its ascension. This is the Cathedral Exa.”

“Yes, Jeannette is right. She has been helping the cathedral for other threats, and now this is the time to return the favor.” Guinevere said. “Z and I came here to help defeat the oncoming Necross Ascension.”

“The battle has yet to start, Tiara!” Z pumped her fists excitedly. “Since you sang the , the Necross Ascension was reset and pushed back. Now we only have to strike back against that underworld god and that Heretic!”

“That’s what as Z said.” Jeannette smiled. “All we have to do now is to stop Hades and Esperia before they could commence their evil plans once again.”

I was left dumbstruck. My wide round eyes just stared at the three girls.

Honestly, I don’t get any of it. I don’t think I will, even if they explain ten more times. So I just kept my mouth shut and made an innocent smile.